On Fri, 29 Nov 2002 02:22:44 GMT, Sum wrote:

>Never owned a HDTV before so I am reading various reviews and
>comparisons on the net. One professional review caught my eye when
>reviewing a Samsung HDTV, it says:
>"However, it's important to note that once it's properly adjusted, the TV
>produced a sharp picture with decent color, though wiithout any
>adjustment, the color temperature was quite blue. As is the case with
>most high-end TVs, it's well worth paying a few hundred dollars extra
>for a professional calibration in order to get the best picture
>possible. For instance, before calibration, our review sample showed
>geometric distortions, such as slightly bowed edges along the sides of
>the picture in Normal mode. Scan-velocity modulation (SVM) was also set
>too high, causing barely visible rings to form around edges of text and
>other lines."
>
>a few hundreds dollars to have it calibrated? What is involved and does
>people really do this?

Most TVs are at least slightly "out of adjustment"...
If you look at a wall of various TVs, while the color
matching is FAR better than it was when I looked for a
27" TV about 10 years ago, you will notice BIG differences
in the quality of text display, the presence of a lot of
red edges on things, poor focus in some or all areas of
the screens, bad distortions of straight lines, slight picture
rotation, etc. Many of the problems are hard to correct
(which is why I always buy a floor [display] model that
looks good over a "new in box" sample, even at the same
price...). The 27" I bought 10 years ago was excellent
in every respect but one: color balance. I took off
the rear cover and adjusted the color (DO NOT DO THIS
WITHOUT SOME KNOWLEDGE!), and now still have a very sharp
TV with minimal picture problems that is still fun to watch.
BTW, here is a good test for resolution: can you easily
read the Ditech (and other mortgage and car-ad) 1/2
screen or so of "fine print"? With standard cable broadcast
service (340 lines max...), my old 27" and 20" TVs show
the "fine print" cleanly...